I like to ride my..
I got given a mountain bike a couple of weeks ago and since I’ve moved to part time work, I’ve been going out every day on it riding around Lancaster. I regularly ride over 10 miles in a session and as Lancaster is a cycle friendly town, there’s loads of different routes to try.
Bring back the 80′s
Today, I had a crash/scrape. I remember being super awesome on my BMX back in the day (early 80′s) where bunny hopping up a kerb was almost genetically inherited knowledge. So much so that it didn’t require a seconds thought.
Now though, much older (and not even that much wiser) I thought it was the same old ‘push down, pull up, back flick’ to get up a kerb. The thing is, back then in the good old 80′s, I never used to travel so frickin fast down a hill, there weren’t 18 gears, only future rocket bikes had front suspension and kerbs were, well, kerb size.
Now.. 18th gear, at least 30 mph, a kerb (uk term for the bit that raises and separates the sidewalk from the asphalt) that would be more appropriately called a frickin plinth and an unqualified belief that I was still a BMX bandit who could bunny hop anything and you’ve got a recipe for a soreness.
Ouch?
I remember, whilst in mid air, thinking that there’s nothing I can do. I remember not feeling regret at trying to bunny hop at speed, I accepted that it was now too late to do anything and I was going to crash and it might hurt a little bit. All this went through my head before I’d even surrendered to gravity and the friction coefficient of concrete.
A scraping sound, an ‘oomph’ as I met the floor and even a roll or two and I was on my back staring at the blue blue sky.
“hmm’, thought I , “it doesn’t hurt”
A crash at that speed, a meeting of pavement at that velocity and it didn’t hurt? I must be either dead already or I’m an undiscovered super hero. I considered what costume I would have and if I had a home planet that I’d been sent away from when I was a small child. That explains why I had that “I must be adopted” feeling growing up.
As it turns out, I’m just a little dramatic (and maybe even slightly concussed) and have good leather riding gloves and a wicked good bike helmet that protected me from the almighty whack my head got.
I got up (slowly) and sat on the convenient boulders on the side of the pavement and gathered my thoughts. I felt a little sick but I figured that must be the landing flat on my stomach and then I started white-ing out, everything went to high contrast and gain and I felt a bit dizzy.
So, I took a picture of my arm and sent it to twitter of course!!
Then I laid back and watched the sky until the dizziness faded and I no longer felt sick.
40 minutes and 5 miles later, I was back home to much ‘oooh!’ and ‘awwww!’ ‘s when everyone in my shop saw my arm.
Get a helmet (and maybe riding gloves)
You hear those adverts on the radio about safety, you see the reports on the news about cyclists whose lives were saved because they wore a helmet and you think, “hmm, whatever”.
It turns out that they were right!! if I hadn’t been wearing my cycle helmet, I would have probably suffered a serious concussion. I whacked my head on the floor when I met it with a serious amount of force. Not only did my helmet save me from possible brain spillage, it prevented me from getting all scratched up and sore for weeks.
My riding gloves (which I only bought to keep my hands clean and prevent blisters from the grips) were destroyed as my hands went out (superman styley) to protect me from the fall and they certainly helped protect my delicate typing hands.
So, all I have is the graze or two on my arm which wouldn’t be there if I’d had elbow pads on but, seriously, there’s a limit to my safety (un)consciousness!
Helmets really save Life.. As riders/bikers, it is our responsibility to be safe all the time as we know that we are tempted to speed up, do some tricks and try a new experience that we want to enjoy. Sadly, there are things that don’t go as we expect.
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Very true. I didnt like to wear helmets when biking myself but after a friend of mine got hurt really bad I changed my mind. You head needs protection
Cheers
Lilly
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Yeap, been there, done that! … and ouch! I did my whole leg a while back on gravel. Not fun at all it wasn’t
Well good luck in the recovery process. Make sure you really play it out as though it’s much worse than what it really is… lol
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Twitter: commentluv
@Ayden : it’s nearly all better now, I must have grown up because I didn’t pick at the scab once!
Aww, just a small scrape but still painful right? Accidents still happen even if you have all the right protective gears. I enjoy reading btw
Twitter: techwork_dk
Haha Andy, BMX haven’t heard about that in a while
Hope you are ok, after all it is a couple of weeks ago can I see.
To be honest I came to take a look on the new ComLuv.
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Twitter: commentluv
@Thomas: it’s now running on this site, give it a go and see how it performs!
nasty! lucky you didnt damage that nice watch
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Twitter: commentluv
@matt: or my nice brain!
It’s amazing how we all made it through the 80′s , I have a 2 year old son and when he rides his bike he looks like his geared up for football.
Twitter: commentluv
@Perikolez: haha, yeah. we were mad bandits in the 80′s!
Twitter: benwaynet
BMX racing that brings back memories.
Do you remember the movie RAD?
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Twitter: commentluv
yeah! is was, um, Rad! haha
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Twitter: osvme
I just bought my husband a BMX bike since he hasn’t had one in years and we really have no room for a larger bike. But since he’s a little chunky he isn’t able to do the things he USED to do and it’s kinda funny watching him try to use it
But he’s convinced it’ll help him lose weight (which I wasn’t happy about 
I’ma miss teh chunk!) so if he’s right he’ll be able to add new scars and shit to himself from doing all the trick stuff 
Twitter: commentluv
haha! I think he might lose some weight, I have lost some since I started riding the bike.
btw.. I tried your url in the comment form and it pulled your latest post, don’t know why it wasn’t included with your comment
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Twitter: rudaalmeida
I admit I am posting this comment just to see ComentLuv in action.
Twitter: commentluv
Hi Ruda,
when I added your url to the comment form it was able to find the post, did you see the ajax loader and did it show a post below the comment form?
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Twitter: crkngconfidence
I can’t help thinking that all the falls, scrapes and bruises didn’t hurt so much when we were little… Closer to the ground I guess!
Twitter: commentluv
yeah, so true! now we’re older we’re aware of how much it can hurt so it makes it worse
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Twitter: DannyBrown
BMX? Pish posh – take a head over handlebars tumble on a Grifter or Chopper, THEN you’re talking!!
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Twitter: commentluv
oh yeah , the Chopper!! wow that was a good bike and the Grifter? that was a heavy duty bit of cycling kit.
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Ok, I’m all signed up to use CommentLuv here! Groovy man…
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Twitter: commentluv
it’s way groovy girl!!
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my kids are fascinated by your bleeding elbow!
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Twitter: commentluv
it looks less than it hurt
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Twitter: BetterBenches
Nice scrape. Just glad it wasn’t worse. Now you know first hand why helmets are important!
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Twitter: commentluv
yup, it was knocked into me how important! lol, glad I’m still here to tell the tale I tells yee! arrrgh
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Just a comment to test the new commentuv !
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Twitter: commentluv
it works!
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Wow, it really look hurt ,dude. but that is the way to learn. LOL
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Twitter: dragonblogger
Ouch, I remember falling off my bike a lot growing up and getting skinned elbows. Why I tried to jump curbs and ramps I don’t know, seems stupid now that I think back on it.
Twitter: commentluv
hehe, I think anything we did as kids is going to seem stupid if we think about it so i try not to!
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I am a member of CommentLuv and have been using it for many months. I have spent an hour this afternoon trying to change the posts shown on my comments at ICH.
I find I cannot login no matter what info I provide and could find no contact address.
In desperation, I am writing a comment here in the hope that a human being will answer and sort out the problem.
Thanking you in anticipation.
David.
Twitter: commentluv
visit http://comluv.com/member/
you will need to log in, if you’re not a member, click the button marked register and then log in at that page
edit your site details and put the url to your sites feed there so commentluv knows where to look to get your feed, make sure that the feed you’re telling it has actually got your latest posts on it by viewing it in your browser.
if you download the latest version of commentluv and install it to your site, it will send back your latest posts whenever commentluv plugins ask for them.
you can download it at http://www.commentluv.com
Twitter: amvdl1966
LOL. Didn’t pick a scab once.. Yeah, you must be grown up by now.
I remember back in the day, when the BMX just came out in South Africa, arround 1975, I had a chopper bicycle. No BMX had a chance against me. But my greatest fall was when I popped a wheelie (showing off to a girlfriend). The front wheel came loose… Long story short, that was the worst and the best experience of my life. Worst.. I did not like the fall that much.
Best.. Got some nice treatment from the girl.
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Twitter: commentluv
haha nice story! thanks for coming by Abraham!
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First off, thank you for creating comluv! I’m a new member.
“Just had my first crash” Lol, take care and just enjoy the ride. We hope to see more joyful photos next time.
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Twitter: commentluv
hey Elin! glad you’re still ok after your crash.
thanks for coming by
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Twitter: findingthehumor
Ouch! Glad you were alright. Why is it that in our heads we are still 15 and think we can just go about doing those things we use to do with ease?…oh yea denial. Although bike riding is still doable. Thinking I’m still a teenager I foolishly demonstrated a cartwheel for my daughter and the painful result was feeling like I ripped every muscle in my side. I couldn’t even bow after the performance which is disappointing because I’m all about the showmanship.
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Twitter: commentluv
haha! I know what you mean! cart wheels eh? I used to be awesome at them, I could even ‘flip’ out of them. And standing on my head? you coulda called me circus boy but now, I can barely stand upright! haha
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Twitter: TMComics
Helmets & gloves are definitely a great (and sensible) idea. Too bad more people (adults & kids) don’t wear them. It is law to wear a bike helmet here in Australia but many still don’t. A funny & well written post Andy. I got a good laugh out of it.
Twitter: commentluv
thanks Tony! and thanks for your entertaining comics!
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sorry for the wound ..nice blog
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Ouuuch,
but I know how you felt. Last week I crashed into a tree and have similar wounds than you
But no riks, no fun. RIght, Buddy?
Cheers,
John
The next time you ride a BMX, ride carefully. It’s painful to have scratches. And you will remember it all your life.
I loved the article! I wish we could bring back more stuff from the 80s. Music, clothes, hairstyles..lol.. maybe not the hair but you get my drift. I remember riding my brother’s BMX bike and wishing I could do all the tricks.
We didn’t need any helmets at 80s but it is a must now for young childrens, we never used sitting belds but only crazy people are not using them now… I still like that decade better, why?
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Ouch! Riding at top speed on pavement, I hit a chain (cleverly painted white) strung across a section of concrete. I noticed it a split second before impact. The chain connected just under the handle bars and I went flying. Landed on my hands but that wasn’t enough to keep my chin from connecting. I went back to work bleeding.
A few years ago a woman made me promise to buy and use a helmet. Her husband had been in a bad bike wreck. I keep my promises.
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Going down from that speed and not having anything big insuries is a miracle. Didn’t ever realize that gloves could save your hands when falling. I should also buy gloves for the summer also. I only have ones that keep me warm during the cold mornings in the autumn and spring. Thanks for sharing your story and giving this valuable tip for saving my hands for future accidents.
Twitter: ronksl
For BMX biking a lightweight cordura jacket or even a thinner leather jacket or shirt would protect you from nasty scrapes. You can get custom made ones in any style or design just send us some pics/links or sketches of what you want.
Twitter: faissalhaithami
The good thing that you are fine and it didn’t hurt you
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Ouch! That is very painful, If that was happen to me I can’t handle that wounds. It is really nice to have a ride in the bicycle but make sure that you wear those things that may protect your head, elbows and also your knees.
The wound appeared to hurt a lot. I remember that I got a nasty wound on my foot after getting stuck in one of the wheels. Helmets and riding gloves seem important and handy when riding a bicycle or motorcycle. Good luck in safe BMX ride in the future.
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